Pets are our best friends, we love to play with them, take care of them, do any fun activity, provide them with their favorite food; after all, they are our special companion that makes our lives special. Some people have the question that can they have bats as pets? This is a very unique and uncommon question that is raised in the mind of some animal lovers. We don’t usually see bats as pets at anyone’s home and haven’t heard of it anytime.
Those who have pets must be knowing how incredible it feels to play and spend time with your pets after a tireless day at the work as they are our tension boosters as well. The most common pets are dogs, cats, rabbits, fish, and turtles.
There are some cases where people tame wild animals and make them so discipline and that they are capable of living as a pet at home. I can’t believe but people have kept lions, crocodiles, and snakes at home!
So, the question is can we do that? can we have them as pets at home? are they really capable of becoming a good pet or not? To answer all these questions, we have brought this post today where we will let you know whether you should have a pet bat or not…so keep reading the complete post and you will figure it out.
Can you Keep Bats at Home?
source: lacrossetribune.com
Bats are wild animals that live in dense forests and eat insects. Having them as pets at home is actually illegal.
If you are a wildlife rehabilitator then you have to take special permissions from the state and central government of your country to take care of them. Also, you need to attend special training sessions to know how can you train and take care of them and get vaccinate against rabies too. After all these things, if you receive permission then you can take care of the sick and injure bats.
But to keep them at home as a pet bat is consider cruelty and against the law. They are wild animals and love to live in their own space, i.e. forests and mountain caves so they are not capable of living in a house. If you keep them at home, they won’t be able to survive long and will die.
Kept Home or Not
It was seen that bats who were kept at home were able to survive only for a few years. Bats usually have the longevity of 30 years but the bats who were kept at home could only live for 5 to 6 years. The decrease in longevity is due to the changed surroundings. Now, you say would you like to have them as pets if it is affecting their longevity?
Also Read: Pet Gecko and Their Types: Detailed Guide with Pictures
Their survival gets affect when they are kept in captivity, they are freedom lovers and love to travel from here and there and so if they are restrict from doing that and kept at the same place for a lifetime then it will demotivate them, discourage them, it will stop their natural activities and they will be doing the things which are totally opposite to their existence.
Also, people who keep them at home don’t have an idea about their lifestyle, what do they eat, what do they like and dislike and other aspects. Without knowing about them and getting proper training, it is not possible to take care of them. In short, they are not an animal which can be domesticate.
source: animalwised.com
Even Zoos Have to Take Permission
Zoos, Wildlife sanctuaries, research facilities all over the world have to take permission from the government to keep the bats on their premises. Without necessary permission, one can’t keep them and it is consider illegal and offense if one does that.
Fear of Rabies
Some bats do carry rabies so it is not wise to keep them as a pet. Bats get excite and bite others. Also, they can bite humans when they are sad or in pain and can transfer rabies from them to us.
The rehabilitators who are taking care of them have to get vaccinate first before they treat them otherwise there is a risk of the disease getting transfer to the person.
source: tsln.com
Food is an Issue
Bats eat mosquitoes and other insects and so it is difficult for you to feed them this type of food at home. They eat almost 1000 mosquitoes in a single night which is huge. This provides their body nutrition and high metabolism. Pet owners can’t provide this type of food at home and so their body doesn’t get proper nutrients that are require to sustain.
Habitat
The habitat in which bats live in the forests and caves is different than what it will get at home. They need open space to fly and can’t remain in a cage environment. Also, they are social animals and love to live in a group especially female bat. They gather around each other and spend their time together at night.
They wander here and there in search of food at night and sleep in the morning time. If you bring them home then their nocturnal habits will get change impacting their overall health and it will affect their life.
source: scitecheuropa.eu
Fruit Bats are an Option
Fruit bats are owne by some people; it is one of the Bat types and is not wild. They eat fruits like bananas, mangos, dates, etc. People keep fruit bat pets but we will suggest that you shouldn’t keep them at home. Allow them to live their own life. Honduran white bats are another bat that people keep as a pet but it is a no for them too.
So, here was an overview of keeping bats as pets and other information related to it. I hope you understand that it is in their benefit to not keep them as a pet and let them live their routine life on their own. This will make them have more fun and enjoyment rather than keeping them captivate at home. For more information, visit Petsnurturing.